Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum

This white, gabled KFC could be mistaken for a particularly good-looking roadside fast-food restaurant, were it not for the fact that it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. This building was the first place to sell what would become known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a yellow neon sign with the restaurant’s original name, the Sanders Cafe, still retains pride of place.

To be fair, the first place where Colonel Harland Sanders served food to customers was across the street, at a service station he bought in 1930. From a small seating area consisting of his dining table in the back of the station, Sanders launched an empire of franchised chicken restaurants, starting with his first restaurant, the Sanders Cafe. The current site houses both memorabilia and an actual KFC.

Visitors can see a recreation of the kitchen where the colonel perfected his secret chicken recipe and dine in the original, wood-paneled 1940s dining room.